It has been awhile since I last wrote a drama or movie review. One reason could be that I was too busy with projects and assignments before the holiday started last July. But then, after the Uni break started, I was too busy learning cooking and baking and watching Variety Show in order to learn Korean. Despite all those excuses I listed earlier, a very good reason for me not to write any movie review for awhile was because I didn't come across any pretty good decent touching heartwarming story until I watched this one-hour long KBS Drama Special centered on a friendship theme. Guess what drama it is.
내 친구는 아직 살아있다...or in English is called "My Friend Is Still Alive".
When I first saw the drama preview at the end of "The Memories in The Old Wallet" which is the previous episode of KBS Drama Special Series, I didn't expect that the story would revolve mainly on friendship. My thought was that, "Oh okay, so the main character and his friend who is diagnosed with leukaemia have got their eyes on the same girl and the terminally ill friend would surely give up on the girl for the sake of his friend. Nah, that is quite cliché..." and therefore I didn't take much interest in watching the drama soon. Plus, at that time, I thought, none of the casts were really that appealing to me, although I've got to say I quite like Lee Gikwang's acting when I first saw him in My Princess, playing a role of cute royal chef alongside Kim Tae Hee. Even when my sister was watching it alone, I didn't even bother to take a peek at it.
However, not that long after I saw the preview, BEAST made their comeback with their second full-length album called "Hard To Love, How To Love" which apparently got me hooked (will review about the albums later probably). So, I started listening to their songs over and over again especially Shadow and How To Love as I've fallen in love with the lyrics. Soon after, I found myself searching for the said drama on Youtube and started watching it.
My first impression: Gikwang's acting has really improved a lot. Like seriously he's not that awkward on screen anymore despite him saying that he felt awkward while filming the drama. He was so humble during an interview saying that he didn't expect that he would be picked among the lead roles and mentioned that he had learnt a lot from the acting. Truthfully saying, I wasn't even his big fan when I watched the drama but I can really say I was so impressed by his acting and his role in the drama.
Warning: The rest of the post may (will) contain spoilers! Read on your own risk.
Let's move on to the overall story.
In the exposition of the drama, two friends are shown sitting in the barber shop waiting uneasily for their head to be shaved. The first guy to be shaved apparently refused to do so as he said he needed to use the toilet and hence suggested the barber to proceed with his friend who was sitting next to him.
As the barber was about to shave the second guy's head, he apparently blocked the barber's hands from doing so, only to remind the barber to make him look better than his other friend (the third friend) who's sitting at the back, watching his two friends getting their head shaved.
The exposition of the drama then proceeds with the first person point of view of Choi Chihyeon (played by Lee Joo Seung) introducing his friend, Go Gyeongsuk (played by Lee Gikwang) who is diagnosed with leukaemia and is told by doctor that he has only 6 months to live.
The two friends, Chihyeon and Myungsoo, therefore started to skip school in order to look after Gyeongsuk and spend time with him. For the sake of the dying friend, they even shave their heads, went to see sunset at the East Sea, attempted to die together and even brought up things that they were too proud or ashamed to mention.
The next scene portrays Gyeongsuk approaching an unknown lady who's waiting at the plastic surgery clinic area at the same hospital where he is being hospitalised. Without a clear explanation, the scene shows Gyeongsuk taking off his beanie before a quick transition to the next scene showing Chihyeon receiving a call by the name "Girl's Generation Tiffany" while having lesson in the classroom. Again at this point, viewers might have been wondering whoever is that "Tiffany" trying to reach out to Chihyeon. However, in a blink of an eye, viewers would already get to know what's happening as the scene where Gyeongsuk explains to the unknown lady at the plastic surgery clinic about his sick friend.
At this point, the drama has entered the next phase of the plot called the rising action. In this rising action phase, Gyeongsuk reveals his dying wish which is to be kissed. Therefore, he has called Chihyeon who was at school earlier to exchange place with him where he pretends that his friend, Chihyeon is the one being terminally ill and has a wish to see Gyeongsuk to be kissed before he died. Unfortunately, the opportunity is seized from Gyeongsuk as his nose bleeds unknowingly in front of the unknown lady. Chihyeon who hears the lady screams turns around to check on the situation before realising the thick red blood flowing down Gyeongsuk's nose. He gets up from the bed in a jolt reaching for the nearby tissues and quickly wipes and pinches Gyeongsuk's nose to keep pressure on it. Chihyeon's abrupt movement on blocking Gyeongsuk's bleeding nose portrays the fact that he has get the hang of what to do in that situation which explains how long he must have been staying next to Gyeongsuk. In fact, this similar incidents are shown thrice, if I'm not mistaken, in the drama which emphasises how loyal Chihyeon is as a friend.
Chihyeon was in a complete objection with the idea of Gyeongsuk kissing total strangers when he said, "Do you know how many diseases are spread by kissing? Don't risk your life. Just wait until you get better." However, he is lost for words at Gyeongsuk's unexpected reply, "When would that be?" At this point, viewers might already have a strong feeling that Gyeongsuk might not make it out alive in the drama. Luckily, the sudden awkward silence following Gyeongsuk's sombre reply is cut short by quick-witted Myungsoo who suggests that first kiss should be done with first love. Chihyeon's subsequent question to Gyeongsuk which is "Do you like anyone?" brings up the fact that Gyeongsuk has never liked anyone nor has he spent his split second thinking about a girl. Most of his time he has spent it either with his parents or with his two bestfriends. This argument could be supported with Gyeongsuk's rhetorical reply, "Would I be doing this then?"
And there goes an important mission that Gyeongsuk entrusts his two friends with: finding first love for Gyeongsuk. Although it the mission seems to be important to Gyeongsuk, the fact that he placidly spurt out "Who's the prettiest in Girl's Generation?" and agreeing blindly with Chihyeon's answer without even giving a proper thought about it himself dictates that the favour that he request his friend to fulfill for him is actually not the essence or the bottom line of what his heart really wants.
The theme of loyalty in friendship is rendered faintly as a start when Chihyeon makes the first move in accomplishing the mission by tiptoeing secretly into his sister's bedroom to sneak her school yearbook out in order to search for pretty girls who could potentially be a candidate for Gyeongsuk's first love. However, he is caught on the scene by his sister who bluntly revealed that she would be sorry to her friend in case Gyeongsuk dies while dating her friend. In return, Chihyeon insists that Gyeongsuk is not dying as he's almost cured, giving hope to the viewers who are already hoping secretly for Gyeongsuk to be well soon.
After being threatened by his sister who wanted to let their mother know about him spending his night at the hospital, Chihyeon has to give up on asking her for a favour. Instead, the two friends, Chihyeon and Myungsoo come up with a strategy of taking pictures of all the female students secretly for Gyeongsuk to pick according to his liking. In the midst of taking pictures crazily like a busy paparazzi, Myeongsu's eyes catch on a small advertisement card thrown on the ground. Apparently, it's an advertisement for those who want a "kiss service". This scene is one of those amusing scenes that cause viewers to laugh or even chuckle a bit while probably feeling pity to the two boys as the person on the other end of the line scolds Myungsoo when he tells them he wants the service to be delivered a stated hospital. They think that he's playing around with them when in fact, all they tell is truth. Again, they are left with no choice but to show the taken pictures to Gyeongsuk the next time they meet him.
The plot keeps rising where a scene shows Gyeongsuk at the hospital, begging and pleading for the doctor to let him go to school as he wants to celebrate Chihyeon's birthday. "I can't miss Chihyeon's birthday." I would say this is one of the next best and cutest scenes in the drama mainly because Gikwang's talent on making cute puppy face is utilised as well as the fact that he utters quite a deep meaningful phrase for us to ponder upon. As his worried mum suggests him to just call Chihyeon over to the hospital for the birthday celebration, Gyeongsuk makes a heavyhearted wistful remark of "You can't have a birthday party at the place where people are dying." The phrase uttered is not only meant to make you realise how true the statement is but also serves as a symbolism that dictates the fact that he is admitted into a ward that requires intensive care, a place where most of the people, if not all, are dying. It symbolises the fact that, out of all people, he might as well die. So again, the viewers are now wavering between believing that this story will give you a heartening ending or that of a despondent ending.
As Gyeongsuk's wish is granted by his mum and the in-charged doctor, Gyeongsuk goes to school the next day. After making a promise to just stay in the school's nurse office, Gyeongsuk waves goodbye to his worried mum. He takes a few steps towards the school's entrance gate before realising that one of his shoelaces are untied. He therefore crouches down to tie his shoelaces and while doing so, a female student in red high heels walks past him. This scene maybe short and seems unrelated to the meaning of the whole story but if we pay attention to it closely, this scene serves as an evidence that Gyeongsuk is the first one who bumps into the girl before Chihyeon does, although it is out of Gyeongsuk's knowledge. Another meaning of this scene could be to show the fact that Gyeongsuk's and the girl's path has intertwined even before Chihyeon meddles in getting them dating each other.
Here comes the scene that is pretty hilarious and somewhat point-turning. Although they don't celebrate the birthday at the hospital, the three friends ironically end up celebrating Chihyeon's birthday with a cake in the school nurse's office. Gyeongsuk takes the chance to look through a bunch of girls' pictures in Myeongsu's phone and pays little attention when Chihyeon asks him for birthday present. Apparently, none of the pictures caught his attention. Moments later, a girl is seen entering the nurse's office looking for a plaster. She gets the three teenage boys drooling over her as she takes off her long stocking before applying the plaster to her back of the heel which was bitten by the heels she is wearing.
Soon after she has done attending to her bitten heels, she realises that the three of them are covering their mouths with white masks and hence asks spontaneously if all of them are down with cold. Gyeongsuk quickly denies it and immediately takes the his and his friends' masks off. She continues asking which grade they are in and if they know a guy named "Dongjin". It turns out that Chihyeon was in the same class with the said guy the previous year and he end up giving a call to the said guy in front of her before the girl snatches the phone away from Chihyeon the moment the said guy answers the call. She then quickly dashes out of the nurse's office without even returning the phone to Chihyeon. Chihyeon who wants to chase after the girl is stopped by Gyeongsuk who out of sudden decides to have his first kiss with the girl. The key point of the scene is when Chihyeon spontaneously shrieks "What?" upon hearing Gyeongsuk's ridiculous wish. That particular point emphasises the fact that Chihyeon is already having crush with the girl only to know that he has no choice but to lose the girl to Gyeongsuk. And so, Chihyeon and Myeongsu are now up for another mission which is to make the girl breaks up with her current boyfriend.
To be continued...
As the barber was about to shave the second guy's head, he apparently blocked the barber's hands from doing so, only to remind the barber to make him look better than his other friend (the third friend) who's sitting at the back, watching his two friends getting their head shaved.
The two friends, Chihyeon and Myungsoo, therefore started to skip school in order to look after Gyeongsuk and spend time with him. For the sake of the dying friend, they even shave their heads, went to see sunset at the East Sea, attempted to die together and even brought up things that they were too proud or ashamed to mention.
All of these scenes are played in a quick flash back styles before the drama enters the next part of the plot. The transition of the scenes is accompanied by the Chihyeon's narration saying, "And just like that 6 months passed. Another day passed, then another, then a month. Then it became spring again and we became 11 graders...and yet our friend, Gyeongsuk is still alive."
The next scene portrays Gyeongsuk approaching an unknown lady who's waiting at the plastic surgery clinic area at the same hospital where he is being hospitalised. Without a clear explanation, the scene shows Gyeongsuk taking off his beanie before a quick transition to the next scene showing Chihyeon receiving a call by the name "Girl's Generation Tiffany" while having lesson in the classroom. Again at this point, viewers might have been wondering whoever is that "Tiffany" trying to reach out to Chihyeon. However, in a blink of an eye, viewers would already get to know what's happening as the scene where Gyeongsuk explains to the unknown lady at the plastic surgery clinic about his sick friend.
At this point, the drama has entered the next phase of the plot called the rising action. In this rising action phase, Gyeongsuk reveals his dying wish which is to be kissed. Therefore, he has called Chihyeon who was at school earlier to exchange place with him where he pretends that his friend, Chihyeon is the one being terminally ill and has a wish to see Gyeongsuk to be kissed before he died. Unfortunately, the opportunity is seized from Gyeongsuk as his nose bleeds unknowingly in front of the unknown lady. Chihyeon who hears the lady screams turns around to check on the situation before realising the thick red blood flowing down Gyeongsuk's nose. He gets up from the bed in a jolt reaching for the nearby tissues and quickly wipes and pinches Gyeongsuk's nose to keep pressure on it. Chihyeon's abrupt movement on blocking Gyeongsuk's bleeding nose portrays the fact that he has get the hang of what to do in that situation which explains how long he must have been staying next to Gyeongsuk. In fact, this similar incidents are shown thrice, if I'm not mistaken, in the drama which emphasises how loyal Chihyeon is as a friend.
Chihyeon was in a complete objection with the idea of Gyeongsuk kissing total strangers when he said, "Do you know how many diseases are spread by kissing? Don't risk your life. Just wait until you get better." However, he is lost for words at Gyeongsuk's unexpected reply, "When would that be?" At this point, viewers might already have a strong feeling that Gyeongsuk might not make it out alive in the drama. Luckily, the sudden awkward silence following Gyeongsuk's sombre reply is cut short by quick-witted Myungsoo who suggests that first kiss should be done with first love. Chihyeon's subsequent question to Gyeongsuk which is "Do you like anyone?" brings up the fact that Gyeongsuk has never liked anyone nor has he spent his split second thinking about a girl. Most of his time he has spent it either with his parents or with his two bestfriends. This argument could be supported with Gyeongsuk's rhetorical reply, "Would I be doing this then?"
And there goes an important mission that Gyeongsuk entrusts his two friends with: finding first love for Gyeongsuk. Although it the mission seems to be important to Gyeongsuk, the fact that he placidly spurt out "Who's the prettiest in Girl's Generation?" and agreeing blindly with Chihyeon's answer without even giving a proper thought about it himself dictates that the favour that he request his friend to fulfill for him is actually not the essence or the bottom line of what his heart really wants.
The theme of loyalty in friendship is rendered faintly as a start when Chihyeon makes the first move in accomplishing the mission by tiptoeing secretly into his sister's bedroom to sneak her school yearbook out in order to search for pretty girls who could potentially be a candidate for Gyeongsuk's first love. However, he is caught on the scene by his sister who bluntly revealed that she would be sorry to her friend in case Gyeongsuk dies while dating her friend. In return, Chihyeon insists that Gyeongsuk is not dying as he's almost cured, giving hope to the viewers who are already hoping secretly for Gyeongsuk to be well soon.
After being threatened by his sister who wanted to let their mother know about him spending his night at the hospital, Chihyeon has to give up on asking her for a favour. Instead, the two friends, Chihyeon and Myungsoo come up with a strategy of taking pictures of all the female students secretly for Gyeongsuk to pick according to his liking. In the midst of taking pictures crazily like a busy paparazzi, Myeongsu's eyes catch on a small advertisement card thrown on the ground. Apparently, it's an advertisement for those who want a "kiss service". This scene is one of those amusing scenes that cause viewers to laugh or even chuckle a bit while probably feeling pity to the two boys as the person on the other end of the line scolds Myungsoo when he tells them he wants the service to be delivered a stated hospital. They think that he's playing around with them when in fact, all they tell is truth. Again, they are left with no choice but to show the taken pictures to Gyeongsuk the next time they meet him.
The plot keeps rising where a scene shows Gyeongsuk at the hospital, begging and pleading for the doctor to let him go to school as he wants to celebrate Chihyeon's birthday. "I can't miss Chihyeon's birthday." I would say this is one of the next best and cutest scenes in the drama mainly because Gikwang's talent on making cute puppy face is utilised as well as the fact that he utters quite a deep meaningful phrase for us to ponder upon. As his worried mum suggests him to just call Chihyeon over to the hospital for the birthday celebration, Gyeongsuk makes a heavyhearted wistful remark of "You can't have a birthday party at the place where people are dying." The phrase uttered is not only meant to make you realise how true the statement is but also serves as a symbolism that dictates the fact that he is admitted into a ward that requires intensive care, a place where most of the people, if not all, are dying. It symbolises the fact that, out of all people, he might as well die. So again, the viewers are now wavering between believing that this story will give you a heartening ending or that of a despondent ending.
As Gyeongsuk's wish is granted by his mum and the in-charged doctor, Gyeongsuk goes to school the next day. After making a promise to just stay in the school's nurse office, Gyeongsuk waves goodbye to his worried mum. He takes a few steps towards the school's entrance gate before realising that one of his shoelaces are untied. He therefore crouches down to tie his shoelaces and while doing so, a female student in red high heels walks past him. This scene maybe short and seems unrelated to the meaning of the whole story but if we pay attention to it closely, this scene serves as an evidence that Gyeongsuk is the first one who bumps into the girl before Chihyeon does, although it is out of Gyeongsuk's knowledge. Another meaning of this scene could be to show the fact that Gyeongsuk's and the girl's path has intertwined even before Chihyeon meddles in getting them dating each other.
Here comes the scene that is pretty hilarious and somewhat point-turning. Although they don't celebrate the birthday at the hospital, the three friends ironically end up celebrating Chihyeon's birthday with a cake in the school nurse's office. Gyeongsuk takes the chance to look through a bunch of girls' pictures in Myeongsu's phone and pays little attention when Chihyeon asks him for birthday present. Apparently, none of the pictures caught his attention. Moments later, a girl is seen entering the nurse's office looking for a plaster. She gets the three teenage boys drooling over her as she takes off her long stocking before applying the plaster to her back of the heel which was bitten by the heels she is wearing.
Soon after she has done attending to her bitten heels, she realises that the three of them are covering their mouths with white masks and hence asks spontaneously if all of them are down with cold. Gyeongsuk quickly denies it and immediately takes the his and his friends' masks off. She continues asking which grade they are in and if they know a guy named "Dongjin". It turns out that Chihyeon was in the same class with the said guy the previous year and he end up giving a call to the said guy in front of her before the girl snatches the phone away from Chihyeon the moment the said guy answers the call. She then quickly dashes out of the nurse's office without even returning the phone to Chihyeon. Chihyeon who wants to chase after the girl is stopped by Gyeongsuk who out of sudden decides to have his first kiss with the girl. The key point of the scene is when Chihyeon spontaneously shrieks "What?" upon hearing Gyeongsuk's ridiculous wish. That particular point emphasises the fact that Chihyeon is already having crush with the girl only to know that he has no choice but to lose the girl to Gyeongsuk. And so, Chihyeon and Myeongsu are now up for another mission which is to make the girl breaks up with her current boyfriend.
To be continued...
